Family Center

Parents & Educators

LinkedIn can help teens do everything from choosing a college and navigating their career path to getting a foot in the door at their dream job. Read about how you can help your kids or students use LinkedIn in a savvy and successful way.

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How do teens use LinkedIn?

Students can take advantage of LinkedIn to create a professional presence online, let others know about their achievements, network with people already working in their chosen field, and find internships that can lead to successful careers. LinkedIn has become a powerful tool to help students navigate their path from high school to college to career.

How do I help my child or student stay safe?

While you can't monitor every website and communication that teens come into contact with, it's a good idea to help them learn some basic Internet safety practices so they'll know what's acceptable and what to avoid.

We recommend talking to teens about the value of knowing their audience - LinkedIn is a professional platform, and it's meant to be used in a professional manner. Making a good impression is extremely important, since future hiring managers, employers, and coworkers may see their profile or anything they post.

How do privacy settings work for teens?

We want to help safeguard teens' online experience, so we've started them off with a high level of privacy.

Here's what's different in the settings of members who are under 18:

Birthdate: Their birth year will be hidden to everyone except them. After they turn 18, they can choose to show this info if they'd like.

Public profile: We'll automatically prevent their profile from appearing in public search engines such as Google and Bing.

Profile photo: Their profile photo will only be visible only to their 1st-degree connections (the people they know and have connected with directly).

Headline: We won't show their professional headline, to protect their privacy in search results.

Display name & location on profile: Rather than showing a teen’s first name, last name, city, and state, their profile will default to first name, last name initial, and general region. (This isn't possible in all languages, but will be in effect for languages using Latin script — e.g., English, French, Dutch, etc.)

Data sharing with 3rd-party applications: Even if they choose to install 3rd-party applications (which are not managed by LinkedIn), we won't share their information with those applications.

Advertising preferences: They won't see ads from LinkedIn when they're looking at other websites.

LinkedIn plugins on 3rd-party sites: We won't collect information about them when they're looking at other websites that partner with us.

Teens have the option to change their privacy settings if they'd like. However, before they do this, it's a good idea to encourage them to learn more about managing their account settings.

How can people communicate with teens on LinkedIn?

Here are some ways members can communicate with each other:

Invitations to connect can be sent to anyone you have an email address for (even if they're not a LinkedIn member yet). Once the other person accepts the invitation, you can message them directly through LinkedIn.

Introductions let you contact members in your extended network through people you know. You can ask one of your connections for an introduction to someone they know - or to someone one of their connections knows.

InMail messages let you contact any LinkedIn member directly, while protecting the recipient's privacy.

Groups are a way for professionals with similar interests to have professional conversations. Once you join a group, you can participate in discussions and contact others in the group.

While LinkedIn is clearly a professional site, it still never hurts to have a conversation about what types of communications you consider inappropriate, and what teens can do if they receive an inappropriate message.

Where can I find more online safety tips?

There are many resources available for you to read and share. We've listed some of our safety partners below. They provide lots of helpful tips on Internet safety that you can incorporate into your discussions with your kids or students.

The Family Online Safety Institute is an international, non-profit organization which works to make the online world safer for kids and their families. Through research, resources, events and special projects, FOSI promotes a culture of responsibility online and encourages a sense of digital citizenship for all.

ConnectSafely provides current news and advice for safe use of social media and technology for parents, teens, educators, and policymakers worldwide. ConnectSafely is a place for information and community that welcomes all participants in today's very user-driven, networked world.

NetSmartz Workshop is an interactive, educational program that provides resources to help educate kids, tweens, and teens on how to be safer online. NetSmartz helps youth learn to recognize potential Internet risks and empowers them to make smart decisions online. Trusted adults, including law-enforcement officers and educators, can use the free tools to teach these important online safety lessons.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They provide special service for U.S. military veterans through an agreement with the Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) and U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Samaritans provide confidential emotional support, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to anyone in distress. They operate over 200 branches across the UK and Republic of Ireland. They also provide training materials and support to schools across the UK and Republic of Ireland.

How do I report inappropriate behavior?

We take all reports of abuse seriously. If you see any inappropriate content or behavior on LinkedIn, or if you think something may violate our Terms of Use Policy, please contact us to report it. If you or someone you know is experiencing an emergency situation, please call your local authorities.